More Giuliani tough talk

Posted: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:39 AM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC/National Journal’s Matthew E. Berger
Giuliani went after Obama Tuesday, criticizing Obama's plans to meet with the leaders of rogue nations without preconditions. Giuliani, speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition, took issue with Obama's claims that meeting with leaders like Hugo Chavez is akin to Ronald Reagan's meetings with the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

"I say this most respectfully, you're not Ronald Reagan," Giuliani said, adding the Reagan called the Soviets the "evil empire" and pointed intermediate range missiles at them before calling for negotiations. "He made sure this country was negotiating from strength.”

Giuliani defended his Republican credentials, a day after they were attacked by Thompson. Giuliani noted that many of the Republican Jews in the audience were the first in their families, and have been met with resistance. "When they want to know, 'Are you a real Republican?'" he said. "I gave my blood for the Republican Party in New York."

He added that he was the first Republican mayor of New York, "and the first to stay a Republican in 50 years."

He also took a swipe at Romney without naming him. Telling the story of how he kicked Yasser Arafat out of a United Nations concert, he said he didn't consult with lawyers. "I didn't call for a team of lawyers to tell me, 'On the one hand, you can throw him out, but on the other hand, you can't,'" he said.

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Comments

Do we really need another swaggering bully to replace the one who has cost us one trillion dollars and 4,000 American service people's lives? Guiliani would make a terrific principal for a faltering inner city high school, but not a President of the United States.

Amy B Portland, ME (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:00 PM)

He's a weak man, pretending to be Italian macho tough. It doesn't go over very well.He's a cheater and a lier.

JeanneGA (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:04 PM)

Another Blah Blah Blah Blah. What exactly is he running on? I still don't undertsand the exact issues he runing on without mentioning National Security.

I can see 1001 ads that will kill Guliani come 2008 if he is elected.

Bee (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:05 PM)

The Rebublician Party can only offer us nothing more then BS..and lots of it. Where in the hell did these people come from? There must be hundreds of deprived villages. OH...Jerry in Corpus, some village located in Central Mexico, has reported you to the FBI and you are now in their 'missing persons' files. Your friends and family REALLY want you back. They all miss your smile and good humor.

Lost and Found (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:12 PM)

While Senator Barack Obama may not be President Ronald Reagan, Mayor Rudy Giuliani is no true religious/social conservative.

MIke RC, Rockwall, Texas (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:16 PM)

Giuliani doesn't realize you can't negotiate from a position of strength with Iran if all our troops are bogged down in Iraq. What a fool.

There is one threat of US leverage that will make an impact with Iran, and it's not talking tough, or saying "we won't meet with you"; it's having an actual army to deploy if things were to get rough. Speak softly and carry a big stick, instead of threatening or ignoring enemies and carrying a twig.

Shadow, Hamden, CT (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:18 PM)

Rudy is a Jackass...yes this is a personal attack.

VL North Carolina (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:20 PM)

Listening to these repubs is like listening to pro wrestling! Hilarious! Difference is the wrestlers really are tough guys-the repubs are a bunch of blathering phonies! They are all tough guys as long as someone else is doing the bleeding and dying.

Steve A Jonesboro IN (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:24 PM)

Let's see, for just an example, Nixon met with Mao at the same time the Chinese were supplying North Vietnam with Rocket Propelled Grenades (B-40's, like they still supply to, well, everybody). Just because somebody is our worst nightmare, doesn't mean we cant have a dialogue with them. Isn't that what Marraige Counseling is about? Since we get oil from Venezuala, we're kinda married to them, huh? I guess Rudy doesn't talk to any of his ex-wives, which may explain his rhetoric.

Steve Turner Cedar Falls Iowa (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:35 PM)

Am I the only one that has noticed that the Bush Administration has picked a fight with most of the oil producing countries in the world. Is it because the cost of oil per barrel was at $19 when these oil men took office. Now it is over $80 a barrel and climbing. The only people better off now than they were in 2001 are stock holders in oil companies and Haliburton and its subsidiaries. Barack may not be Ronald Reagan; but with the exception of Ron Paul the GOP contenders are duplicates of G. W. Bush.

Robert Stelling, Chandler, AZ (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:42 PM)

And you're no John F. Kennedy Rudy why do you keep borrowing phrases from democrats Rudy don't the republicans ever say anything worth repeating?

Rufus Gibbons, DC (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:43 PM)

He's a cheater and a liar, and just about everything that comes out his mouth makes him look/sound like an idiot, the other stuff that comes out makes him as complete ass.
Giuliani needs to try and fix his family problems. Before you can clean the white house you need to get your own house in some sort of order.

I don`t know why he thinks that he is right for the white house when he is just as dumb as they come.

Nope....Nope.....Nope....No Giuliani for president,
the guy is a BIG OLD JOKE!!!

BIGOLDTEXAN (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:43 PM)

Stating that Obama isn't the racist , hating, nasty Reagan is no doubt the biggest compliment Obama has ever received

Tuck,realityville,Kansas (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:43 PM)

Rudy aint tough......he talks with a lisp.
America will never give the Presidency to a little sissy who talks with a lisp.By the way...has he explained his relationship with Bernard Kerrick yet?

J. Merle Stanley, Westchester, NY (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:46 PM)

We all know how the huff and puff and blow your house down has brought us. The swagger of cowboyism has brought nothing but hatred and we need to get out of that mode. Before you all jump on me, let me say this if you think that threatening to blow something up really is the answer then I challenge those who believe that to go and visit their nearest Armed Forces Recruiter and join. This guy is full of crap and I would be willing to bet that if he were on the wrong end of the rifle he would piss his pants.

Terry, Disabled Vet, Des Moines, IA (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:49 PM)

When Guiliani can run for President in this country, Why Obama can't be Ronald Reagan?

Guiliani is another rough Rep guy

Larry, Toronto (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:14 PM)

Those tough talking non serving chickenhawks on the right...anyone who believes you are safer with these cowardly blowhards in charge is an idiot or from texass or alabamy

Ryan,Michigan (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:27 PM)

Guiliani is another 'chickenhawk' who had a student deferment during the Viet Nam era.

It's funny how brave chickenhawks become once they're NOT FACING military service.

Sierra, SF (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:31 PM)

Little Judy could wup my ass.

G the G-man (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:34 PM)

Interesting that you would refer to "Obama's plans to meet with the leaders of rogue nations without preconditions." Obama doesn't have "plans" to do this. He answered affirmatively to a hypothetical You Tube question during a debate whether he would consider doing this. His main point was that he wouldn't continue the Bush policy of shoot first and talk later. Stop the lies, First Read.

Bob, Denver (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:35 PM)

This is the period of political opportunism run wild. Here, Giuliani excels as its prime chair-leader. Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 1) was signed in 1972 between President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. Brezhnev came to power in 1964. Was Soviet arms not used to kill many Americans in Vietnam? Was Brezhnev not the Soviet Leader who authorized Red Army invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979? Was it not Brezhnev who used Cuba as proxy to send military intervention in Angola (1975) and Ethiopia-Somalia War in 1977? Helsinki Final Act was signed in 1975, SALT II in 1979, which were the forerunners that paved way to ending Cold War. You only make peace with enemies and not with friends.

Edmonsky, Sacramento CA (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:49 PM)

absolutely, positively, guiliani is THE EVIL COUNT ORLOV, of lemony snicket fame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tomtyskiewicz, forest hills, pa (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:50 PM)

Giuliani [["I say this most respectfully, you're not Ronald Reagan," ]]

And that's definitely a selling point for any candidate. Not being Reagan is almost as much of a plus as not being G. W. Bush. Ronnie the promoter of South American death squads and dictators, Ronnie of Iran-Contra infamy. Ronnie the budget buster who ran up the worst federal deficit in the history of the US -- until Bush came along.

[[Giuliani said, adding the Reagan called the Soviets the "evil empire" and pointed intermediate range missiles at them before calling for negotiations. "He made sure this country was negotiating from strength.”]]

Is it no longer a requirement that modern "journalists" know anything about history, or is it your policy to just print any B.S. that Rudy wants to sling without calling him on it?

The U.S. and Soviet Union had missiles pointing at EACH OTHER for decades long before Ronnie Reagan was napping in the Oval Office. Gorbachev was the one who was trying to reach a peace agreement with the U.S., and Reagan almost blew it with his Star Wars idiocy. The Reagan's proxy war against Russia in Afghanistan probably did have something to do with Gorbachev making peace overtures, but Reagan was financing Islamic like Bin Ladin. When they saw they could defeat one superpower, they decided they could take on the remaining one, leading to what the CIA calls "blow back" in the form of the 9/11 attacks. But of course, 9/11 worked out fine for Rudy, so I guess it's no wonder he adores Reagan.

Giuliami also doesn't seem to realize that Hugo Chavez is not a dictator; he became president of Venezuela in landslide elections that were a lot more democratic and a lot cleaner than Bush's smelly "victories." Maybe Rudy thinks that he'll win over the Repub base if he acts as ignorant as Duhbya.

There may be some legitimate concern that Chavez is becoming too authoritarian, but he hasn't reached Bush's level of authoritarian rule yet, and even Bush's near-dictatorship is probably less than the what Giuliani apsires to.

Houston (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:30 PM)

Bloodshed and ass kicking, yup that should appeal to the base.

nuanced (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:32 PM)

Rudy gave his blood for the repubs in NY?? What happened, paper cut??

Steve A Jonesboro IN (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:33 PM)

Bob, Denver [[Interesting that you would refer to "Obama's plans to meet with the leaders of rogue nations without preconditions." ]]

It seems the purpose of journalism is no longer to inform the public about what's fact and what's fiction. Based on "mainstream" journalists' performance over the past 7 years, it looks more like their purpose is to keep the public from getting too upset while a dictatorship is incrementally imposed on us, one signing statement and one secret Justice Department torture memo at a time.

No need to get people in a needless uproar by challenging the outrageous lies told by Giuliani and the other would-be GOP dictators. Besides, if you report something that gets Rudy mad at you, he won't invite you to any White House dinners and parties after he assumes his rightful position as America's "Il Duce."

Houston (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:45 PM)

This guy is becoming more of a joke everyday.Yeah he scares me---he is as big a coward as Bush and needs a title to screw everybody---another power hungry ego-maniac with a bloody mouth.

HMT-MI (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:49 PM)

Guiliani's hard handed bully tactic style of governing is the last thing this country needs after 8 years of Bush's cowboy diplomacy, and stubborn style of governing. Rudy did not work with the NYC Democratic Controlled City Council...he always ignored it, and always fought it, instead of engaging the council and governing from the middle by consensus...something his predecessor excels at..Bloomberg who has done more NYC than Guiliani ever did.

Pat, Huntington, NY (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:54 PM)

Oh, look how they fear the real G-Man. Rudy will slap down both the terrorist and thier Persian fanatic backers, and the liberal horde.

Dan G., Pensacola, FL (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:07 PM)

"I gave my blood for the Republican Party in New York."

Oh, come on! Taking the blood test to get married multiple times in NOT "giving your blood."

Going to Viet Nam might have qualified, but you were being a tough-talking coward. You still are.

Rudy Tutti, fresh and fruity (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:13 PM)

It may well end up that the two current front runners end up getting their party's nominations--Clinton and Rudy. Repubs do NOT like Rudy's politics but they want to win and would vote for Adolf if he was leading in the polls.

About half the voters in the US (actually slightly more than half) are women. So far none of the repubs have campaigned for the women's vote. It's as if they think the their voters are entirely male. The funny thing is that polls haven't been comparing the voting preferences of men and women.

Well, Rudy has a little problem with women. He has shown a distaste for them as people. His family history has been made out to be one of multiple marraiges but women I have talked to point out that it isn't the number of marriages but how he treated his wives, carrying on affairs while married and then cruely dumping his two previous wives for the younger women he was having affairs with.

It will likely turn out that a majority of men will vote for Rudy over Clinton but women will vote for Hillary by a much higher margin. In talking with several friends who are married to repub men, they say that their husbands usually tell them how to vote, but they plan to secretly vote for Hillary.

J. D. in California (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:20 PM)

It is funny ; the first Bush ran with quail. Fact
The second bush with a Dick. Fact
now I know you put quail in the bush for bugs ,and what you get with the other two which is bent over, But with a Rudy Judy all we need is an Oz.Theres no place like home, theres no place like home!

Jeffersonian (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:36 PM)

and while we're dancing on the dead here...Reagan receives inordinate credit for bringing on the end of the cold war, but why do so many people forget the contributions of Gorbachev himself? The man is the real power behind the demise of Communism, and part of his genius was not reacting to Reagan's anti-Russian bravado while he methodically dismantled the empire.

Pete Caloger Bushkill, PA 18324 (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:13 PM)

Bob, Denver

You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT to point out that Obama gave an answer to a hypothetical question and did not in any way indicate that he had plans to meet with leaders of countries such as Iran. There is tremendous between "hypothetical" and real.

Dot, Illinois (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:35 PM)

" I gave my blood for the Republican Party in New York.

What is he talking about here? Someone enlighten me.

Dot, Illinois (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:42 PM)

He gave blood at the blood mobile a couple times is what he means.

G (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:50 PM)

Rudy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine - you're no Jack Kennedy.

Rudy, Lyndon Johnson was a friend of mine - you're no Lyndon Johnson.

Rudy, Jimmy Carter is a friend of mine - you're no Jimmy Carter.

Rudy, Bill Clinton is a friend of mine - you're no Bill Clinton.

Rudy, Al Gore is a friend of mine - you're no Al Gore.

Rudy, Bernie Keric is a friend of yours - you are Bernie Keric!

Rudy, Larry Craig is a friend of yours - you are Larry Craig!

Rudy, Dubya is a friend of yours - you are Dubya!

Rudy, Darth Cheney is a friend of yours - you are Darth Cheney!

Rudy Guiliani, today's Dick Nixon!

Gary, Franklin, WI (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:03 PM)

my blood for you oh master

worm tongue to lord voldermort (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:52 PM)

Way to go, Rudy!
Reagan was a great president.
Obama is nothing more than an empty suit.

Rj (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:59 PM)

Remember when the fruitster asked Bush if he could be part of the firing squad for the 9/11 perps? Even Bush seemed to realize how unseemly and undignified that was. How about execution by knife fight, Rudy Tutti?

Julie Oni makes me a little sick (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:06 PM)

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responds:

While Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton do not think we should engage in the type of strong diplomacy practiced by Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy, Obama does. And given the hefty fee that Hugo Chavez's oil company paid Rudy Giuliani's firm, he apparently thinks we shouldn't talk to Chavez, but it's fine to take his money.

OUCH! I believe that's called a twofer.

Cinderella Ferret, fortified bunker in the Badlands of New Mexico (Sent Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:15 PM)

PLEASE, HELP ME......CAN YOU NOT SEE HIM.....THE EVIL COUNT ORLOV....IF EVER A CHARACTIATURE IS A CASE OF THE "ZEXACTLIES"....IT IS THE EVIL, VERY EVIL, COUNT ORLOV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOM TYSKIEWICZ, FOREST HILLS, PA (Sent Wednesday, October 17, 2007 8:36 AM)

Not trying to sound partisan here, but did anyone think the last GOP debate had no content, it literally didn't, it had phrases and boring trailing speeches but nothing concrete in the way of proposals.

SJ Benson Seattle, Wash. (Sent Wednesday, October 17, 2007 8:49 AM)

Houston: This is unfactual. Reagan never ''funded bin Laden''.[bin Laden himself refutes such a notion].Further,STAR WARS was less an ''idiocy''then you would imagine. Indeed,the EU is moving towards a missle shield and will begin its emplacement upon the moment that Iran places a nuclear warhead upon its first ICBM,which can strike European targets.[This is what has Putin unhappy and he is at this very moment,muscling Eastern European nations in order to threaten these into non-compliance even when Iran gets its nukes and even though his nation trained Iranian missle scientists]. Further,you are mistaken about Chavez. He is indeed a dictator moving to take total control of the nations press,military and economic apparatuses and seeks to abolish the presidency,creating one-man/one-rule ''government'' on August 17,of this year. His handpicked banana-republic reichstag has,as with Hitler,granted him an Enabling Act allowing him to take complete control of the nation. Your alleged ''thesis''is shotgunned full of holes.

Also see:

ABC NEWS Nov.18,1998-''Interview With Osama bin Laden'',John Miller,ABC.

The Times of London May 28,2007:''Caracas Erupts In Violence Over Chavez Television Takeover''

USA TODAY/The Washington Post,Jan 31,Feb.01 2007:''Chavez To Assume Powers To Remake Venezuelan Society''.

The US Central Intelligence Agency www.cia.gov[declassified documents section].

Lee Holmes (Sent Wednesday, October 17, 2007 3:53 PM)

"Macho Man" -- The Village People

nuanced (Sent Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:03 PM)

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